Real Dream World
by Tarafina
Summary: He still has trouble accepting the reality of his life and just how great it turned out to be. :Rylor:


**Title**: Real Dream World  
**Category**: The O.C.  
**Word Count**:  
**Rating**: K+  
**Genre**: Romance/Family  
**Ship**: Ryan/Taylor  
**Summary**: He still has trouble accepting the reality of his life and just how great it turned out to be.

**_Real Dream World_**  
1/1

There were moments where he still didn't believe this was his life. Fifteen years ago, he was just a kid living in Chino with nothing but the wife beater on his back and the BMX he was sitting on. And now... now he had a real family, in more ways than one. He had the Cohens - his parents, Sandy and Kirstin, a little sister, Sophie - who was quite possibly the most insightful and charming girl alive, and a brother, one that wouldn't sell him out to the highest bidder at first sight. And sure, Seth had his moments where he never shut up and drove him crazy with whatever Seth-like thoughts he was having, but... He was his brother and his best friend and he couldn't ask for anybody better. And yes some days still wanted to ask _Why? _- Why him? Why then? Why at all? But he bit down those questions, because while his old self desperately needed answers he could understand, the Ryan he'd grown into understood the answers and knew the question didn't need to be asked.

Now, he had his own family. A family that as a teenager in Chino, he never would've imagined could be like this. He saw all those other families, broken or on their way to being. He saw kids with no dads or parents who drank too much, paid too little attention or worked themselves to exhaustion for a job that killed them more each day. And he saw the look in their eyes, the always present need to get out and away, whether it was through drug abuse or whatever adrenaline high was on their list. But his kid wasn't going to be one of those. His kid was going to grow up with two parents who were always there, who would always care, who would pick him up from whatever party went wrong, bail him out of jail and tell him it was going to be okay, and give him the space he needed while still always being within arm's reach. They'd be the Sandy and Kirstin Cohen he'd had growing up.

"S'op thinking... G'sleep..." she mumbled next to him, one of her arms reaching out, wrapping around his waist and squeezing lightly. Her manicured nails scraped along his ribs enticingly and while he knew she was practically asleep, he couldn't help the stirring in his gut.

He turned his head toward her, watched as she snuggled her face into her pillow, her hair in sexy disarray. Usually it was coiffed to perfection; it was just her nature. He loved it either way but there was something sensual and beautiful about her being less than perfect with him. There was a time in her life where she had to look every inch the perfect princess and back then, he would've paid money to stay far, far away from her. But when the make-up was stripped away and the know-it-all tone no longer so fake, she was just... She was a hundred times better than whatever her mother had designed her for.

She let out a sigh and wiggled next to him, snuggling closer and resting her head near his shoulder. She peeked open one eye, telling him she wasn't quite as asleep as she'd like to me. "What's wrong?" she asked, her tone saying she'd rather be sleeping but was too worried not to ask.

He shook his head. Even after all these years, he wasn't the verbal genius she often showed to be.

Her other eye popped open and together they narrowed at him, lips pouting with exaggerated frustration. "You can't fool _me_, Ryan Atwood..."

He half-smiled. She always used his full name when she wanted him to take her seriously. It had the opposite effect, however. Somehow her tone always came out more playful than serious.

She was right though; he never could fool her. "Just thinking," he admitted.

His arm fell around her, fingers absently stroking her shoulder.

Her eyes fell, staring down at his chest thoughtfully. "You're evaluating everything again, aren't you?" she murmured, thumb rubbing back and forth along his side. "Trying to figure out when exactly you fell out of your reality and into this weird dream world you think you're in..."

He didn't nod or shake his head, he just stayed silent. Seth would've said she was being creepily knowing again; reading his mind in a way that wasn't entirely human and probably snark about always checking the closets for pods, but he was used to her insight by now. He welcomed it. Words didn't need to be said, or stumbled over in his case. She just _knew_.

She sighed, pressing her cheek against his chest. "Well, when I looked up pregnancy online and browsed the various books I picked up-" He snorted, by various she meant the hundreds of books she'd maxed out her credit card with when she first found out she was pregnant and then spent every spare moment reading and highlighting. "and nowhere in there did it give any tips about how to raise a _dream _baby..." She glanced up at him with mirthful brown eyes. "So I hope you have an idea, because with all of my worldy, dream or otherwise, knowledge, I don't have any _clue _as to how one might-"

He cut her off by rolling her over onto her back and covering her body with his own, taking her hands in his. He had her pinned to the bed, a look of amused chastising crossing his face. He knew she was bugging him, trying to bring him out of his thoughtful funk. Just the feel of her slightly rounded stomach against him was enough to have the firm tenseness of his body relaxing. His son was in there; _their _son.

Back in Chino, it wouldn't be like this. He wouldn't have this amazing and kooky woman as his wife, as the mother of his child. He probably would've had a child with a girl who wasn't ready, who he barely knew, who he'd never be really, truly happy with. That child would forever be labeled as the mistake; the too-early gift born into the world, just like so many who grew up in Chino. And instead, he was an architect, he had incredible parents, the best little sister he could ask for, a ridiculously insane and awesome brother, a wife, and a little boy on the way. He had an apartment in the _safe_ part of town, a blooming business and a bright future ahead of him. The dim surroundings of Chino were far behind him, so long as he let them be.

"Hey," she said, her voice soft, calling him back to her.

He looked down at her, deep blue eyes taking in every beautiful angle of her face, the warm chocolate of her eyes, the fullness of her pink lips. And she smiled up at him, a hint of mischief in an otherwise too-perfect smile.

"Hey," he replied.

"If this is a dream world, does that make me your dream woman?" she teased lightly. "I certainly have the past to fit the fairy tale... Although I can safely say I've never lived with seven dwarfs, spoken to animals, Pancakes not included, or met my fairy-anything, so..." Her brow furrowed thoughtfully. "You know, now that I think about it, I really only have the evil mother to speak of..."

He chuckled lowly. "Good enough."

She grinned, twining their fingers together. "Are you ready to sleep yet?"

The clock on the end table read 3:58 in bright red numbers that bore into this reality starkly. Whether it was a dream world or not, he wouldn't be waking up in Chino tomorrow (he hoped), and he had a meeting at one of his sites tomorrow, early. So, much as his mind wanted to disagree with him about whether or not this too-good lifestyle was real, he had to put away his reservations and just live it.

She rolled him over easily, sensing his fall from disturbed thinking to acceptance. Her leg slid between his comfortably and her arm fell to his waist before her head settled on his shoulder, lips pressing a comforting kiss to his neck. He hugged her close, taking her hand from across his side and threading their fingers. She let out a dreamy sigh, a sign she'd be fast asleep again soon. She was in and out, napping just about anywhere accessible now that the baby had her off her feet with fatigue. He rubbed her back soothingly, half-smiling in the darkness of their bedroom as she drifted away.

He closed his eyes, wiggling his head on his pillow until it was comfortable. His forefinger stroked the wedding back on her hand thoughtfully. It felt as real as it could be; her, this life that had lasted fifteen wonderful (although sometimes dramatic) years. He'd probably always wonder, always fear it would be taken from him, but all he could do was enjoy it for as long as he could. And unlike so many, he wouldn't take for granted all that he had, all the people he loved; Kirstin, Sandy, Sophie, Seth, Summer, his still unnamed son, and his wife, Taylor. So the world, dream or not, would keep on spinning, and he'd just have to accept his new found footing. In this world where things weren't exactly perfect, but better... Much, much better. And really, he couldn't ask for any more. He was already right there at the top and loving every single second of it.


End file.
